Hafa Adai. Part III

Our touring adventures:


On Sundays after church, and sometimes early mornings during the week, Dr.Goodwill showed us around the island of Saipan. This one particular day we started out with going to an old Japanese bunker, where they would keep an eye out for the Americans. The structures were made of cement and iron. {It looked like they threw anything in the cement mixture.} But the bunker is still standing & in rather good condition. From that side of the island we could see Tinian-the next island to the south, its about a 15 minute plane ride away. Tinian also has lots of history-it is were the plane that carried the atomic bomb that dropped on Hiroshima took off from. (We tried to make it over there, but were just so busy.)





We then drove around the south side of the island to the airport where on the property there are also some Japanese bunkers. We ventured inside-amazing. It was very cool to see, explore & see where they would shot from.




Then we drove up to Mt. Tapochau. This mountain is the highest point of the island; it was here the Japanese watched for American troops. It was a beautiful view over the whole island. And you can easily see out for miles.




Although Dr. Goodwill taught us a lot during the week about the battle fought there, he thought it would be wise to take us to the American Memorial Park. This museum just opened about 3 years ago and they have a very informative 20 minute video about the war there. We watched and learned so much. It definitely added to our recently gained knowledge of the history of the island.
"Bullock"


Sunday August 10th we started out at the “Banzai Cliffs”. They line the northwest side of the island. It was here, at what is now known as the “Suicide Cliffs”, that due to the Japanese propaganda of the Americans (claiming that the Americans would rape and kill them), hundreds of civilians & soldiers took their lives as they jumped. It was a beautiful spot; it’s awful that such tragedy occurred there.


We made a stop at the Grotto, a salt water swimming hole-there was a tunnel under the rock where the ocean water would come up through, it’s a popular spot on the island for swimming, snorkeling, and scuba diving. The steps are steep, and makes for a tough work out going up and down. But it was worth the little hike down; it's gorgeous. And the water was so inviting (to cool off and all the different colors of blue were magnificent). We didn’t swim, as it was Sunday, so we moved on to the next stop of our guided tour....




Bird Island. It used to be a great place to snorkel and enjoy the beach, but now it is preserved land. At least we got to see a nice view.


Then we headed down a dirt road to Kalabera Cave. We were taught that the Japanese used that cave as a field hospital during the Battle of Saipan. Dr. Goodwill showed us faint ancient Chamorro (the name used for locals) drawings on the walls of the caves. It was rather dark back in there, we all regret not taking flashlights to see what is really down there, as its rumored to have a Japanese solider still in uniform at the bottom of the cave.


Before making our way home, we stopped at “The Last Command Post”. It was a Japanese command post at the bottom of Suicide Cliff. We enjoyed exploring & playing around.


Our last leg of the tour was the “Old Japanese Jail”. It falls right in the middle of a residential neighborhood. It was rumored that it was here Amelia Earhart landed, was taken prisoner and died. Like I said, it’s a rumor. I guess we’ll never really know for sure.


By this time a rainstorm had come in and kind of cancelled the rest of the tour. We did drive up to where Dr. Goodwill and his family use to live because right next door it the old Garapan Lighthouse. It became a restaurant for a few years, but with the economy so bad it failed; now its home to vegetation, graffiti, and tourists that come and visit every once in a while.